Elliott Sadler was third in Saturday's morning practice before improving his speed in Happy Hour. Credit: Autostock

Sadler fastest in final practice at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Elliott Sadler ended lasted weekend's race at Talladega Superspeedway with a single flip at the finish line.

The last-lap crash left him 22nd in the EA Sports 500, his second consecutive finish of 20th or lower.

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Sadler, ranked eighth in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, needs to bounce back with a strong finish at Kansas Speedway. Things have gone well this weekend, as Sadler qualified 11th for Sunday's Banquet 400 and then led Happy Hour.

Sadler's best lap of 175.092 mph came late in Saturday's final practice, indicating he and his Robert Yates Racing team have made steady improvement.

"Yeah, we're really good," Sadler said. "We were fastest in Happy Hour, and the car's real comfortable. It's really good on long runs, so that's as good as I can ask for it.

"This is probably my favorite car. We won with it at California and finished third with it at the Brickyard. I think we can get another top-five out of i.t We're looking forward to tomorrow."

Brendan Gaughan Credit: Autostock

Brendan Gaughan, hoping to back up last week's fourth-placed finish, was second-fastest in Happy Hour at 175.058 mph. Defending race winner Ryan Newman was third at 174.831, with Ricky Rudd fourth and Jimmie Johnson fifth.

Polesitter Joe Nemechek was 15th.

The lone incident was a single-car spin in Turn 4 by Robby Gordon early in the session. Gordon got loose off the corner when Kasey Kahne came up behind him, and the car kicked sideways. He barely scraped the wall with the right-rear, but it was hardly noticeable.

Jeremy Mayfield led Saturday's morning practice with a lap of 176.102 mph, edging Kahne's 176.068. The Evernham Motorsports teammates both ran 37 laps in the practice, and their fast speeds came on the 15th lap.

Kahne ended up .006 seconds slower than Mayfield. Sadler was third, with Johnson fourth and Dale Jarrett fifth.